Few lovely locales in Best Picture picks

If they gave an Oscar for &#8220;best supporting location&#8221; in 2013, it would undoubtedly go to that not-so-hot tourist destination of Langley, Virginia. Here's the home of the CIA in "Argo," directed by and starring Ben Affleck (right, with Bryan Cranston). Langley also starred in "Zero Dark Thirty." Both films are nominated for Best Picture.CLAIRE FOLGER, WARNER BROS.

If they gave an Oscar for best supporting location in 2013, it would undoubtedly go to that not-so-hot tourist destination of Langley, Va.

Those of us who grew up on Cold War thrillers, or later generations on the Tom Clancy novels-turned-movies, know that "Langley" is shorthand for the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency. When two of the best picture nominees this year prominently featured the spy nest in the Virginia suburbs, I was ready to throw in the towel on my annual Academy Awards Travel Trips feature.

Most years, I write a Travel section cover story on the romantic, beautiful, intriguing, glitzy spots featured in the best picture nominations. But as this movie year wound down in November and December, I was already feeling pretty glum. There were the stolid neighborhoods of Philadelphia in "Silver Linings Playbook." Paris gets a pair of stark portrayals, perhaps as payback for Woody Allen's cinematic love letter from 2011, "Midnight in Paris." Take your pick between the claustrophobic French apartment interiors of the old-age-and-love story "Amour," or the brave and brutish life of the denizens of the tearjerker singalong "Les Misérables."

The first half of "Life of Pi" is set in the gorgeous old French colonial town of Puducherry, India. But its heart is in the surreal scenes at sea. The 18th century computer-generated shots of Washington, D.C. (but thankfully, no Langley) in "Lincoln" also owe more to a computer program than a real place. "Beasts of the Southern Wild" is about as good as it gets with its sassy, mossy, wet, ramshackle bits of Louisiana. The other Southern-themed film, "Django Unchained," was one of my favorites of the year – but the locales were mostly cartoonish (though sometimes beautiful) props.

A lot of films with more interesting locations didn't make the cut. "Skyfall," the best James Bond picture in years, gave starring roles to Istanbul, Macau, Singapore and, in the end, the rooftops of London. It made some awards lists but not the Oscars. I loved the Joshua Tree locations of "Seven Psychopaths," but the shih tzu-stealing caper didn't get traction with the academy – though at least a screenwriting nod was in order.

The most memorable film-related moment of the best picture nominees this year was in "Argo" when Ben Affleck flies into Los Angeles and looks down at the computer-generated image of the forlorn, derelict Hollywood sign, circa 1979. The community later rallied to save the landmark and avoid civic embarrassment. It's a fascinating image and one I had largely forgotten even though I lived through that era in Southern California. Like millions, I tend to think of the sign in its early movie heyday or in the more recent films that celebrate it with scenes of characters arriving in Los Angeles.

Even the films that earned Oscar nods in categories beyond best picture didn't offer much for the traveler. Denzel Washington was amazing as a drunk, cocaine-snorting airline pilot who performs a miracle crash landing in "Flight." But I don't think you'll see that movie on your seatback entertainment on real flights in the future.

Woody Allen's "To Rome With Love" gave a loving eye to the Eternal City but forgot to populate the scenery with believable characters speaking decent dialogue. Not only wasn't it the love poem of the Oscar-nominated "Midnight in Paris," it wasn't even up there with "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" – which I didn't like but some viewers and critics did. Everybody dismissed "To Rome With Love" as either a mess or minor-league Woody Allen. We'll have to wait for his next postcard from around the world.

So, my Oscar take this year has something in common with this year's Baseball Hall of Fame voting – nobody gets in, better luck next year.

If they gave an Oscar for “best supporting location” in 2013, it would undoubtedly go to that not-so-hot tourist destination of Langley, Virginia. Here's the home of the CIA in "Argo," directed by and starring Ben Affleck (right, with Bryan Cranston). Langley also starred in "Zero Dark Thirty." Both films are nominated for Best Picture. CLAIRE FOLGER, WARNER BROS.
Daniel Craig as James Bond stops for a moment during a memorable chase scene through and on top of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. It didn't make the Best Picture cut. AP

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